Beirut Will Not Deal With Soldiers-Swap Issue
Joseph S. Mayton - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Beirut, Lebanon (AHN) - Lebanon will not participate in negotiations between Hezbollah and Israel for the release of two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah in July. Minister of Culture, Tarek Mitri has made it clear they would not deal with the issue. The minister was speaking at a World Council of Churches meeting in Geneva. He said that there had been a "tradition" of exchanging prisoners between the Jewish state and Hezbollah. He added that Beirut could only do so much in pressuring the militant organization. "Hezbollah is not fully under the control of the Lebanese legal authorities," the minister continued. Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on July 12 in a raid. Israel responded by bombing Lebanon for 34 days. Hezbollah has said they were shocked by the response from the Israeli government, saying they had expected a prisoner exchange to manifest itself. More than 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians and more than 100 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed in the 34-day war that ended August 14.
Article © All Headline News - All Rights Reserved
|
